A commercial ends, and the show Lucas and Julian are watching comes back on.
“Gypsy weddings?” I question. “Seriously?”
“It’s oddly entertaining,” Lucas tells me. “I’ve been explaining humanity to Feathers over here.”
I sweep my hand out at the TV. “Then this is a poor representation of most of the human race. Watch Friends or The Big Bang Theory to better represent normal people. Hell, even Jersey Shore would be better than this.”
I laugh and rest my head against Lucas’s shoulder. There’s no way he’d fall prey to a necromancer’s control. No. Way.
“Your wedding was very subdued compared to this,” Julian notes. “What is customary?”
“It depends on where you’re from, really,” I say. “But our wedding was pretty typical, which I loved, though normally you’d have more than like ten people there. Anywhere from seventy-five to two hundred guests would be normal, I think.”
“But who really knows and cares about two hundred people?” Lucas counters. “Even if I added all the people from over the last sixteen hundred years who I mildly tolerated, it doesn’t come close to even fifty people.”
“You’re not a people person,” I say, stating the obvious. “And neither am I. I think you usually invite family on both sides, plus co-workers and people who’d be offended if they weren’t invited. It’s more of a social thing than a who you’re actually friends with thing. Which sounds stupid now that I’m saying it out loud.”
Lucas laughs and puts his arm around me. “It does. We had only those who mattered at our wedding. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
“I agree.” I turn and kiss Lucas on the lips.
“Are you hungry?” he asks, running his fingers down my arm.
“Yeah.”
“What do you want for breakfast? I’ll cook for you.”
I wrinkle my nose, stomach still feeling unsettled. “I don’t know. Nothing sounds appetizing. I think the stress is getting to me.” And it’s really getting to me. I usually stress eat and drink.
“You need to eat something,” Lucas says gently, running his fingers through my hair.
“I will. Later.” I close my eyes, able to relax now that I’m downstairs with my family. I listen to the TV, opening my eyes a few minutes later to see a fight breaking out at the wedding.
“You know, I’m surprised no one fought us at our wedding,” I muse. “Though I did get my ass kicked the day before the wedding, so I guess there’s that.” I let out a breath and straighten up. There’s so much to do, and that’s not including normal shit. My lawn is in desperate need of being mowed, I totally forgot about watering my potted plants and now most are dead, and I can’t remember the last time I actually cleaned the house.
“You’re okay?” I ask Julian, needing to be sure.
“Yes. I have healed.”
“Do you have to go?”
His eyes meet mine, and that familiar feeling warms my heart. I’ve never been around others of “my kind,” and it’s so comforting, though I can’t pinpoint exactly why.
“No. I can stay a while.”
I smile. “Good, because we should start planning. Ruth has to be pissed I was able to not only neutralize but return the hex. We should go after her before she goes after us.” I motion to Julian. “Between the two of us, I’m sure we can figure out a way to get her. Do you have some cool, secret angel way of tracking people?”
Julian looks at Lucas for half a second before locking eyes with me. “I was hoping we could hang,” he says, words sounding forced and rehearsed.
“Hang?” I question. “For real?” I shift my gaze from him to Lucas, giving him a pointed look until he cracks.
“You’ve been very stressed,” Lucas says gently.
“I’m always stressed.”
“More than usual,” he urges. “Getting dizzy, feeling weak…that’s not the normal Callie. Take the day off and spend time with Julian.”
“I’ve had the last week off.”
“You’ve spent the last week obsessing and not sleeping well,” he counters. “Which might have been done on purpose. Mind games…making you paranoid…going crazy waiting for her next move…it’s all part of this. Take one day off,” he urges. “We didn’t get our night off last night like we planned.”
It’s true, and a day off does sound nice. Plus, I’d love to hang out with Julian. He’s my cousin, I feel an odd connection to him, yet we know nothing about each other. Hell, I hardly know anything about angels in general.
“What if Ruth strikes?” I counter.
“Then you should be rested. Physically and mentally,” Lucas presses, eyes filling with concern. “Take half the day at least. Ruth lost her puppets and her way of communicating with the demon Bael all in one night. She’s going to be pissed as fuck but will need time to come up with another plan. She’s batshit crazy, but she’s smart enough to know she can’t attack you alone. You’re way more witch than she is.”